Soooo I’m a little late to the party, but on April 20th, 2023 a podcast about Keith Green’s cult Last Days Ministries was released. The podcast description states: “Feet of Clay – Confessions of the Cult Sisters” is a new podcast hosted by Sharon Madere (Bennett) and Tracey Phalen (Reed), who both worked alongside Keith […]
A New Podcast Has Dropped… Read More »
This is a multi-part post where I discuss little nuggets of wisdom from a YouTube video and how it applies to our experiences (or at least mine). Back in October of 2021, Cinema Therapy on YouTube released an episode on trauma and imposter syndrome – two very different topics, but connected in a fantastic sci-fi
Star Trek: First Contact ~ a Metaphor for Trauma? Part 2 Read More »
A quick aside: Wow! It’s been over a year since my last post. It’s been a long year. My mother passed away, I graduated with my second bachelor’s degree, AND I got through my first year of teaching high school science. It’s been quite the ride. Sorry for not making posts. Now back to our
So it seems that I am a bit bitter… Read More »
We were the first internship class to go through “Orange Block”. Orange Block was something the Mr. Hasz came up with. The rules are simple: No sugar except at breakfast, no fizzy drinks, no contemporary Christian music – only worship music that you would sing at church, no texting except for weekends, corporate exercise every weekday morning, with daily room inspections and “extra training” at weekends if your room was a mess. (Maybe I’ve left some things out?)
Star Trek: First Contact ~ a Metaphor for Trauma? Part 1 Read More »
(2021 Update: This post is one of ~80 posts that were in drafts and not archived by the Wayback Machine.) I’d like to share with you some books that helped me understand spiritual abuse as well as books that have reoriented me towards a different(and more healthy)view of Jesus and Christianity. Soul Repair by Jeff
So an interesting happenstance occurred the summer of 2021. This blog was somewhat resurrected in June (before being more completely brought back by the end of July). A week after this blog got Lazarus’d, and totally unrelated, the fantastic Belief It or Not podcast released an episode on Teen Mania.
Belief It or Not Podcast covers Teen Mania Read More »
“There has to be a better way to love God and feel free.” -Esther, Paradise Recovered Paradise Recovered is an independent film that follows a fundamentalist believer’s journey to freedom. The Parable of the Good Samaritan is at the heart of story, though here it is a church that has robbed our victim and left
Filmspiration: Paradise Recovered Read More »
“You Are Not So Smart is a book about all the wonderful ways you delude yourself everyday.” This is psychology research thats easy to digest and will change your perspective on so many things. We are irrational, we make decisions and then justify them and we are susceptible to a whole host of biases –
You Are Not As Smart As You Think You Are Read More »
Why do we keep going back to the people who hurt us? Why does a hurt and exploited intern return for a 2nd year? Why does a dismissed intern return for another shot at graduating? Sometimes, the answer is “Stockholm Syndrome.” The term was coined when hostages in a Stockholm bank robbery bonded so deeply
On Why So Many Interns Love the Honor Academy Read More »
This is a list of resources that I’ve found helpful on my journey to recovery. This isn’t a comprehensive list by any means but these are the ones that stick out most to me when I think about my recovery. Feel free to share anything in the comments that you’ve found healing. List of Nationwide
Recovery Resources Read More »
Here are a few blog posts that stood out to me over the last month. I hope you like them as much as I do! 1) The Allure of Toxic Leaders We are apparently attracted to toxic leaders. Psychological dynamics that lead us to rally around such leaders include a subconscious longing for a parental
1) Via Don Miller I don’t believe the aim of the devil is to get us to masturbate, as is taught in so many churches, but rather to get us to project a righteous identity. And The next time you want to impress your friends with your religious devotion, count it as false religion. And
Frequent commenter, Eric P., is a guest writer at the Quivering Daughters blog. And boy has he has been tearing it up!! In, the Myth of the Lukewarm Christian, Eric unpacks the verse that so often beats us over the head, “So because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you
“Lukewarm” Christians and Spiritual Abuse Read More »
The journey back from spiritual abuse inevitably involves doubt. We doubt ourselves, the church, and even God. Maybe, especially God. Its hard to know which way is up when everything you believed in and poured out your life for is called into question. If you were spiritually abused at Teen Mania, what does that mean
Somehow we’ve come to believe that leadership and excellence are key pillars of the Christian life. Yet Jesus own ministry violated many principles that we teach in the name of these ideals. Jesus chose blue collar workers without an education to be his friends and his representatives. His communication was often confusing. He didn’t play to the
How Leadership and Excellence Damage People Read More »
2 quick notes and some good links for your Friday. 1) The spam filters on the forum are very aggressive. If it won’t let you in, send me an email and include the username you’d like and I will manually add you. 2) I think that I’ve now published all the stories that have been sent in.
Housekeeping + Link Roundup Read More »
Just wanted to remind everybody of these very wise words*, via the SGM Survivors blog. You are not out of the cult until it is more important to you to see the victims healed of hurt, than to see the abusers shielded from the possibility of hurt feelings…. IF they have TRULY repented with great contrition
You Are Not Out of the Cult Until… Read More »
I hope everyone has made progress on writing their stories this week. Don’t forget to send them to the Board of Directors, here is the info you’ll need. It’s been odd to have the blog so quiet these past few days – I’ve missed interacting with all of you! Regular posting will resume next week. For
I’m slowly going through the book, The Subtle Power of Spiritual Abuse, and I can’t recommend it highly enough. I hope the author won’t mind me excerpting a page here that really speaks to the idea that sometimes things are not always as they appear. I know many people, myself included, wonder how something that looks
Things Are Not Always What They Seem Read More »
Yesterday, I gave you links to some free books I’ve found helpful in my journey. Today, I’d like to whet your appetite by highlighting one of them. As I was reading it last week, I pulled some quotes that I thought fellow TM alumni might enjoy. – “That’s the worst part of religious thinking. It
So You Don’t Wanna Go to Church Anymore Read More »
Churches That Abuse by Ronald Enroth is a great book that I’ve referenced here before. It gives a rundown of abusive practices and characteristics to help you understand what you have experienced. He has also written Recovering From Churches That Abuse. Both of these titles are out of print but you can buy used copies
All These Books Are Free Read More »
